Car-door-operatng mechanism



A. E. ZIMMER CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM File d Sept. 4, 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 1 I n uenZ'ov' ALBERTf Z/Mr lf/i H/s ATTORNEY A. E. ZIMMERCAR DOOR OPERATING MECEANISM Filed Sept. 4, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2IA'IIIII" k; X In V24 Inventor WITNESSES, vALBERT 5 Z/M/{f/Z ATTORNEYPatented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES T PATENT ALBERT n. ZIMMER, or ammo, rumor-s, assrsnos r0nnrnnrnrsn RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OLE oHIcaso, ILLINOIS, A-ooaroaerlon or innit-tors.

maroon-cameras MECHANISM,

Application filed September To all Til/1.0m it may concern:

ide it known that I, ALnnn'r E. ZIMMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of lllinois, haveinvented a' certain new" and useful Improvement in Car'-Door-Op eratinglt lechanisms, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, andexact descrip tion, reference being bad to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification. v 'This invention relates toimprovements in car door operating mechanisms. 2

An object of my invention is to provide a door mechanism for operatingdump doors wherein is employed a bodily movablelatch or look carried bythe door and adapted to project or rest upon a winding shaft when thedoor is in closed position, the movement of the latch over the shaftbeing accomplished by tension or pull of a flexible con nection in adirect line from the end of the latch to .the shaft in order toeliminate twisting or'binding of the latch during the bodily movementthereof. y It is also an object of my invention to provide a pluralityof co-operating sets of teeth on a shaft and latch, respectively, and todispose one set of'teeth'on either side of the flexible elementconnecting the shaft and latch whereby-a pull eXertedjon the latch byeither the flexible element or the teeth will be in a direct line withthe path of movement of the latch.

' A further object of my invention is to mount the latch on the door onanti-friction bearings of sphericalshape, thereby eliininating anytendency of the said antifriction bearings to jam between the latch andthe door. j r

The invention furthermore consists in the improvements in the parts anddevices and in the novel :oinbinations of the parts and devices hereinshown, described and made the subject matter of claim.

in the drawings forining part of this specification, Figure 1 is avertical, sectional view of .a portion of'a gondola car, the sectionbeing taken transversely thereof and illustrating my improved .mechanismin connection therewith, the door bemechanism in corresponding positionas shown in full lines. The door is shown in open position in thesamefigure by dotted ing in closed position with the operating 4, 1925.serial in. 660,784.

lines. Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion of the car shown in Figure 1and illustrat- 111g so much of the car as necessary to disclose theoperating mechanism. Figure showing more particularly the relation ofthe parts when said latch is either just leaving or just engaging theshaft, depend,-

ing upon whether the door is being opened.

or being brought to closed'positionr Figure 5. isa vertical sectionalview, of a portion of a gondola car showing a modified form of myinvention. Figure 6 is a plan view of a portion of the car shown inFigure 5. Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the rear portion ofthe latch taken on a line corresponding substantially to line 77ofFlgure 6. enlarged, sectional view of the front portion of the latchtaken on line correspond ing substantially to line 88 of Figure 6.

Referring first to the construction shown. in Figs. 1-4 inclusive of thedrawings,l0 denotes one of the channel center sills, 11 a central floorplate, 12 a side sill, 13 a portion of a side wall of the car, 14. a

cross-bcarer,' diaphragm or needle-beam of the car, and 15 a pivotedfloor door'arranged to be flush with the floor of the car when the dooris in closed position. door 15 is pivoted along its inner edge bymeansof hinge straps 16 and hinge pins 17 to hinge butts 18- riveted orotherwise se cured to thecenter sill of the car.

Although in the drawings I have illustrated-only one floor door of acar, and only the immediately adjacent portions of the And Figure 8 isan Said car, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatthere may boa series of such doors extending lengthwise of the car and acommon opera-ting shaft employed therewith. The flexible connections andlatches or locks will preferably be used, two for each door, butinasmuch as the operation of all of these mechanisms would besimila-r, Ideem it only necessary to illustrate and describe in detail one of them.

In carrying out my invention, I employ 'an operating shaft 19 whichextends parare to the free edge of the. door (or edges of the pivoteddoors if more than one is used) and which is located beyond the path ofmovement of the free edge of the door, so that the shaft or any parts onthe latter do not interfere with the movements of the door. Said shaft1.9 is also located in a plane somewhat below the plane of the door withwhich it is associated. In a car such as indicated in the drawings, theshaft 19 ,is mounted in suitable bearings 20 ap plied to the cross beam14 of the car, the shaft passing tl'irough such cross beams.

Mounted on each pivoted door 15 (there preferably being two sets foreachdoor) is a casing or housing A, located onthe underside of the doornear the free edge thereof, said casing A being preferably formed of aplurality of sections, upper section 21 and lower section 22. The casingis open at its outer end and preferably also its inner end. The'u-ppersection 21 is formed with a plurality of parallelly disposedcorrugations 23-23 extending lengthwise of the door and constitutingraceways within which an upper set of loosely mounted anti-frictionballs 24- are adapted to have rolling movement. The outer edge of theupper section is formed with a downwardly extending flange 25 opera-tingtostiffen the outer edge of the section and also acting as a retainerfor the anti-friction bearings. The lower section 2 is also formed witha" plurality of corrugations 2626 extending lengthwise of r the door andforming racewa-ys for a lower set of loosely mounted ball bearings 27.Said upper and lower sets of ballbearings constitute supports for amovable latch or lOClC B extending within the casing A.

Said latch is formed on its upper surface with 'ra-ceways 28 and on itsunder surface with raceways 29, in alignment with the aforesaid raceways23 and 26, re spectively. The race-ways on the latch and easing,respectively, may be of any suitable form but the preferred form is tomake the same of arcuate cross-section of a slight ly larger radius thanthe radius of the ball bearings, such a shape serving to centralize thelatch member in the casing and causing it to travel in a straight line.In order to limit the forward movement of the lower set of ball hearingsin the casing, a bolt or pin 30 is disposed in the path thereof. Saidlatch B, at its outer end is bifurcated, thus forming two separated arms31'31, both of said arms have the under faces thereof formed withserrations or teeth 31, the teeth on the respective arms being inalignment longitudinally of the car. At an appreciable distance from theouter end of the latch, there is formed'a transversely extending wall 32which is perforated centrally of the latch for the reception of anadjustable eye-bolt 33,. Said eyebolt 33-is adapted to have thecorresponding end of a flexible connection 3e adjustably attachedthereto.

On the shaft 19 is preferably provided a winding drum (1 to which theopposite end of the flexible connection 34 is secured in a plane at oneside of the latch. There will be one of said drums for each latch orlook. B. Said drum 0 is provided with a helical groove 35 within whichthe flexible connection 34; is wound and guided in the usual manner,from a point to one side of the latch to aposition in alignment with thelatch. At the end of said drum, and in alignment with the aforesaidtoothed sections 31 31, the sides of the grooves are extended upwardlyand at the top thereof present widened surfaces 36, each formed with aseries of pinion teeth 37 adapted to register with the teeth 31 on thesaid arms 31-31 of the latch l3. flexible connection 34. is adapted toextend between the toothed sections 36 and in alignment with the latchB, thereby assuring thatthe center of the chain or other flexibleconnection will pass from the drum to the latch directly in line withthe longitudinal center or axis of the latch B. The object of this is toplace a direct pull or tension on the end of the latch B in alignmentwith its path of movement as the latch begins to engage: and rides up onthe teeth 37 of the drumas shown in Fig. 4. By this construction, Iavoid the possibility of. pulling the latch to one side or exerting aneccentric pull thereon which would cause the latch to engage the sidewalls 38-438 of the lower housing section 22 and render it moredifficult to move the parts to closed or locked position.

In Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, I have illustrated av modified form of theoperating mechanism showing a construction wherein only two ballbearings are used for each latch. In said drawings, denotes thecrossbeam, 111 the side sill of the car, 112 the door. 113 the windingshaft, 11% the housing, 115 the movable latch; 116 the ball bearings,11'? the winding drum and 118 the flexible connec tion between the drumand the latch. in said construction, the latch is also bifurcated at theouter end thereof. forming arms 119-11 h the under surfaces of which aretoothed as indicated at 120. the space intermediate said toothed armsbeing coi'nparativcly narrow in order to obtain width for said teeth 120without unduly increasing the width of the latch. A flat, elongated link121 is utilized for the terminal link of the flexible connection. thesaid link being pi:- otally mounted between the arms as indicated at 122and also adapted to bear on the under surface 123 of the lat-ch duringthe lifting movement of the door. thereby constituting an extension ofthe said latch.

The

Said link is also adapted to extend between the toothed sections124-424: disposed at the end of the drum in alignment with the teeth 120of the latch 115. An adjustment for the length of the flexibleconnection is provided on the drum where a socket 125 is formed tliroughwhichthe shank of an; adjustable -12 l12 -t is also disposed at rightangles to the longitudinal axis. of the shaft and the guidewayon thedrum 18 adapted to extend helically intermediate said sections asindicated at 128. As the guideway of the drum extendsfrom a positionadjacent the side of the latch toa position centrally thereof, the dian'eter thereof gradually reducesthereby providing a differential liftingaction which enables the exertionof the greatest leverage on the shafttowards the end of the closing operation of the door or'at'thecommencement of the opening operation."

In saidconstructionillustrated in Figs..7 and 8, the ball bearings areadapted to move inraceways of arcuate form and the verticalside walls 129'129 ofthe casing 114 act as guides to restrictfth'e movement of thelatch to a direction at rigl'it angles flto the longitudinal axisiof theshaft. 7 VVhile I have shown two different combinations of balls, oneemploying two and the other four, it will be evldent that any number maybe used, as for instance. two balls at one end ofthe latch and one ballat the other end thereof thereby providing a three point support. 7 V pThe operation as follows: assuming the parts in the positionafsindicated by dotted lines. the operator will rotate the shaft 19 in acountor-clockwise direction by any suitable means, thus winding theflexible connection 34 on the drum C. The door is thereby graduallylifted untilthe "curved end 39 of the latch B passes the shaft, thelatch being forced inwardly of the door because of the flexibleconnection occupyinga position between the shaft and the end ofthelatch. The toothed portions 37-37 of the drum then engage'the teethon the latch as shown in Fig. 4 and the latch. is pulled out over theshaft so that the flexible connection is relieved of all load and theload from the door is transferredthrough the latch directly tothe-shaft, thus eliminating all tendency to rotate'the'shaft when theload is on the door. As the latchmoves outwardly overthe shaft, therespective upper and lower ball bearing sets move in unison therewithassuming the position shown in Fig. 1. Now assuming the parts in lockedposition as shown in Fig. 1, in order to drop the ,door, the operatorwill rotate the shaft 19 in a clockwise direction and the latch will"initially be forced inwardly of the door, riding on the respective upperand lower ballfbearings; which are dis 'ilaced in unison therewith.Suchmoven'ient of'the latch is accomplished by the teeth 3? forcing thesaid latch inwardly until the condition illus trated in Fig. l isreached where the latch is about to free itself from the shaft. 'As thelatch frees itself from the shaft, the load is taken by the flexibleconnection which causes further unwinding of'the shaft until thecondition illustrated by dotted lines in Fig.

1 is reached where the door is su )orted in its fully opened positionbythe flexible connections. V p 7 lVhile I have shown and described myinvention as applied to a door of conn ositc construction, the same isequally applicable to a door of all metal construction when I mayconveniently form the corrugations constituting the raceways for theball bearings directly in thedoor plate itself and utilize'thesaidcorrugations as rigidifying meansfor the door. Furthermore, the doormechanism is applicable to types of car other than that herein shown anddescribed, as for 1nstance, the device may be used with 'a shaftextending"transversely of the car where the doors are hingedwith theiraxes at right angles to the longitudinal center of the 'car. V

.Although I have shown and described what'I now consider the preferredmanrcr ofcarrying out the inventiom'the same is merely illustrative andI OODttHlPlfite all changes and modifications that come within the scopeof the claims appended hereto. I claim: v j 1. In a door operatingmechanism coinprising; awinding shaft; a flexible counec ti on therefromto the door; a latch for sup porting the door in closed position: and

anti-friction balls for supporting said latch.

2. In a door operating mechanism, the con'ibination with a pivoted doorand a shaft rotatably mounted adjacent the free edge of thedoor; of ahousing'carried by the door; a bodily movable latchinounted in thehousing; anti-frictionballs interposed between the latch and thehousing, and arranged to provide bearings for said latch in variousdirections; and a flexible connection from the shaft to the latch.

3. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a door and ashaft rotat ably mounted adjacent the free edge of the doorg of ahousing carried by the door; a

latch adapted to have reciprocatory motion in the housing and movable toa position over the shaft to maintain the door in closed position;anti-friction ball bearings loosely mounted in the housing andinterposed between the latch and the housing; means for restricting thebodily movement of the ball bearings to. the path of movement of thelatch; and a flexible connection from the shaft to the latch.

4. A door operating mechanism comprising: a winding shaft rotatablymounted adjacent the free edge of the door; a housing carried by thedoor presenting upper and lower raceways of arcuate shape; a latch inthe housing, for supporting the door, said latch having raceways ofarcuate shape disposed in alignment with the raceways on the housings;ball bearings disposed in the respective raceways of the latch andhousing; and a flexible connection between the latch and the shaft.

5. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a pivoted doorand a shaft rotatably mounted adjacent the free edge of the door; of ahousing carried by the door, said housing comprising upper and lowermembers, each of said members having a plurality of parallelcorrugations formed therein; a latch carried by the said housing andmovable to a position over the shaft to support the door in closedposition, said latch having raceways on the upper and lower facesthereof disposed in alignment with the said corrugations in the housingmembers; anti-friction members of spherical form interposed between thelatch and the respective upper and lower faces of the housing andmovable in the said raceways and corrugations, said bearings formingpoints of contact between the latch and the housing; and aflexibleconnection having one end thereof connected to the shaft and the otherend connected to the latch.

6. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a pivoted door, ashaft rotatably mounted adjacent the free end thereof and a flexibleconnection; of a latch slidably mounted on the door and having one cndofthe flexible connection secured thereto; a drum mounted on the shaft andhadng the adjacent end of the flexible conncction attached thereto, saiddrum having portions of varying diameter, the portion of the largestdiameter being at the side of the latch and the portion of smallcstdiameter in the plane thereof; and teeth formed on the latch and drum,respcclively, adapted to have co-operating engagement to move'the latchrelatively to the shaft.

7. As an article of manufacture, a latch mechanism for car doorsincluding; a housing having upper and lower bearing surfaces; a bodilymovable latch adapted to have reciprocatory movement in the housing;ball bearings interposed between said latch and said respective upperand lower bearing surfaces on the housing; and means for limitingsidewise bodily movement of the ball bearings.

8. In a door operating mechanism com-- prising a winding shaft; aflexible connection therefrom to the door; a latch for supporting thedoor in closed position; and anti-friction balls for supporting saidlatch and providing bearings for said latch in various directions.

9. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a pivoted doorand a winding shaft; of ahousing on said door; a latch slidably mountedfor longitudinal movement in said housing; anti-friction balls forsupporting said latch in said housing; a flexible connection attached atone end to the shaft and at the other end to the latch, the groove inthe sheave wheel oper-- ating to guide the flexible connection from anoffside position relatively to the latch to a position in linetherewith, whereby the di-* rection of pull on the latch by the flexibleconnection toward engaging position will be in the same direction as thepath of movement of the latch.

V 10. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a pivoted doorand a winding shaft; of a housing on said door; a latch slidably mountedfor longitudinal movement in said housing; anti-friction balls forsupporting said latch in said housing, there being raceways in the wallsof said housing and said latchto support said balls for movement; aflexible connection attached at one end to the shaft and at the otherend to the latch, the groove in the sheave wheel operating to guide theflexible connection from an offside posit-ion relatively to the latch toa position in line therewith, whereby the direction of pull on the latchby the flexible connection toward engaging position will be in the samedirection as the path of movement of the latch.

11. In a door operating mechanisu'i, the combination with a pivoteddoor, a shaft rotatably mounted adjacent the free end thereof and aflexible connection; of a latch slidably mounted on'thc door and havingone end of the flexible connection secured thereto; a drum mounted onthe shaft and having the adjacent cud of the 'il(\ll')l( conncctionattached thereto, said drum having portions of varying diameter.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 31st day of August, 1923.

. ALBERT E. ZIh IMER. lVitnessos FRANCES SAVAGE, HAnninr'rn M. DmMnn,

